Jefferson County, WA, on the Olympic Peninsula, appears set to give in to local prejudice and parochialism. The County appears likely to adopt an ordinance not allowing the citizens of other states to rent out their Jefferson County homes for short terms, which sure looks to me like a violation of the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause.

Separately, the Jefferson County ordinance would give a monopoly to a very small number of homes in the County, prohibiting everyone else in the county from renting out their homes for short terms.

It looks like the County intends to "grandfather" existing STR's which have permits, so not only do those owners get to share in the monopoly, but people whose life situations suddenly change even if they have owned properties previously will be unable to earn STR income or move to another locale — even another locale in Washington State!

The restrictions contemplated by Jefferson County, in my legal opinion, implicate important constitutional questions, not the least of which is private landowners' fundamental right to decide who gets to stay in their homes and for how long. Relatedly, enforcement of the new Jefferson County ordinance requires an extensive monitoring and surveillance regime over the comings and goings of ordinary people at private homes. Big Brother is watching you, folks. Read More…

Bellingham, WA generally allows short-term home rentals in residential areas. But that only happened after volatile City Council hearings a few years back. As usual, opponents were loud and emphatic that STR's must be banned — stated another way, that the government should take over the role of private landowners in deciding who gets to stay in private homes and for how long. So the Bellingham City Council tossed in a few restrictions to mollify STR opponents. One of those, completely senseless, is that if you have an accessory dwelling (ADU), but it's not physically attached to your house, you can never rent it out for short terms. At a minimum, you would have connect it to your house with a breezeway or else tuck it into your basement.

In my new home in Bellingham, our small lot in a very old neighborhood dictated a small main house situated at the front of the lot and any ADU to be in the back. But when we asked for a variance from the City's prohibition on the renting of detached ADU's, the City of Bellingham claimed we couldn't even seek a variance! In essence, if your ADU is not physically attached, you have no right at all to have renters for less than 30 days. An administrative law judge agreed, so we had to appeal. We won that appeal, meaning we won the right to seek a variance.

So we're back in the administrative hearing route, but only after a year of tussling over just the preliminary issue whether we even have the right to seek an exception from a City ordinance which is facially senseless. In any event, Bellingham residents who seek a variance from any of the many requirements and restrictions the City of Bellingham imposes on ADU's can reach out to my office for further information and advice. Read More…